Wordless Wednesday: Splish Splash I was taking a bath

Xanax to the rescue

Remember when I posted here about our new carpet upstairs?  We knew it would only be a matter of time before we were faced with this problem again from Elle.

Well about 3 weeks ago, it happened.  We came home from a trip out of town and unfortunately the second I walked in our room I knew she had peed.  Kyle rigged up a black light and we saw 2 different spots on the carpet... on our brand new carpet!!  (Thankfully we bought the padding with a moisture seal so with our carpet cleaner it did come out). We were both so upset, but Kyle was furious.  Not being a cat lover already, he had had enough.  He said it was time to find Elle a new home, and in all honesty I was on board because with Emery it's just too much to keep up with all the animal problems as well.  But before we went down that route I felt like we had to try one last option that I had been putting off for years... medication.

I took Elle to the vet, checked her for a urinary track infection (which of course she did not have... this is strictly behavioral) and then talked to the vet about what my options were.  He suggested trying Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, and promised me that she would not act drugged or loopy.  So we tried and IT. IS. AMAZING.

Elle is a completely different cat.  Instead of hiding under our bed all day, she is downstairs trying to lay on your lap at all times.  Instead of being skittish around guests she's jumping on them and trying to rub her cheek against theirs.  She is lovey and purring 24 hours a day now.  And did I mention that she loves Kyle too?  It is INSANE.  AND AWESOME.

So yes Elle is on xanax, and probably will be the rest of her life.  But the good news is that she'll be staying in our house and on top of that, our house that will have CLEAN carpets from here on out!

p.s. Did I mention that the vet assistant said to me that if the xanax didn't work on Elle that I could just take it? hahaha guess she could tell that I was a little stressed about it not working.

8 Month Photoshoot & Video

It cracks me up that I title this "photo shoot" because I am totally not a photographer but I can't come up with another name, so I'm keeping it.  I took these pictures back when the leaves first started falling in Georgia (back when Em actually turned 8 months old.. ha).  All Em wanted to do was put huge hand fulls of leaves in her mouth, and then she would make this disgusting face like "mom why did you let me eat those?". This girl loves to be outdoors!

And finally here is her 8 month video. 
This month has been so much fun, some of the highlights are:
- Happy little personality
- Dance Moves
- Starting to pull her knees up when on her belly
- Finally got the hang of jumping and loves it
- Hide & Go Seek in the walker 
- Babbling and squealing like crazy

Emery Models Again for BA!

Emery was asked to model some more BA products that are launching this December!  (Click here to see her first debut!) This time she modeled: 2 new hooded towels, bloomers, socks, onesie for a retailer, and a crocodile lovie. I love our products!

I seriously am in love with this picture:

Em's step stool

Happy Friday!  I'm still trying to find the time to put together Em's 8 month video, so until then here are some pics to enjoy!  A huge thank you to Misty & Mark for giving Emery this step stool.  She absolutely loves it and it's the perfect height for her to play with right now!

What mommy?   You want me to play with the blocks ON MY TUMMY?!

Okay but only with a paci in:

Thanks again M&M, we love it!

The Traveling Apple

Emery's favorite toy is her apple.  She loves to put the stem in her mouth and spin the rings at the same time... it's pretty funny actually and I've never seen another baby do that!

Well on our last road trip when Kyle took Emery out of our car, her apple fell out onto the pavement.  He completely forgot to pick it up after he was done changing Emery's diaper, and remembered about it when we were probably 3 hours from that restaurant.  The guilt that came over him was hilarious, as I kept reassuring him that Emery will not remember about the apple, it's totally not a big deal.  At that exact moment Emery started crying in the back seat, and Kyle responded with "see she misses her apple!".

Fast forward 3 days, and a package arrived at our door.  Kyle had looked online that night and found what brand the apple was (bright stars-- it came with her play mat), called the company the next day and told them our situation. The customer service representative was so sweet and sent him another apple free of charge!

I'll let the following pictures show Em's reaction:

(y'all know I sanitized the apple as soon as I took that last picture!) Clearly, Emery was excited and remembered exactly what to do with the apple.  I love that Kyle wants to give Emery the world and felt so guilty losing something that is so "precious" to her.  He really is the best dad!

Emery turns 8 months old!

Emery Katherine turned 8 months old on November 8th!  This month has really been one of our favorites as so many things really seemed to click for Emery (consistent long naps, no more acid reflux or constipation, sleeping through night again, eating great, etc).  On top of that it has been SO FUN to see her mimic the things we do and learn new tricks that way.  We cannot get enough of this little girl!!!

Since we didn't go to the doctor this month for a check up, I tried to weigh and measure her at home just for our records.  Who knows if they are accurate but she weighed 17.4 lbs and was 28 inches long (maybe a little taller not sure).  I do think she's tall for her age because the only footed pjs that truly fit length wise are the 12 month ones!


PERSONALITY!
Emery is still such a talker.  Her favorite sounds are mama, baba, and high pitch squeals.  At the end of this month she did finally grasp the "da" sound, which made Ky so happy!  She mimics us, trying to say so many of the things we say and actually succeeds sometimes.  Kyle and I swear that we've heard "all done, hey, bye, bubby, more, etc" but know it was just similar sounds!  We are still doing sign language with her too, but no signs back yet.  When trying to mimic us, sometimes she moves her mouth but no sound comes out which is funny.  She definitely says things to get our attention though which is awesome.

She gives us the biggest smiles and now she scrunches her nose when she's super excited.  That scrunchy smile is sooo cute.  

She loves to be outdoors and she absolutely loves music.  Whenever she hears any kind of song, whether on the radio or if we sing, she bobs her head back and forth and has started bouncing her body a little.  Maybe she'll be a dancer like her mommy!  She loves to clap when we clap, and always will play along if we do patty cake!  Still waving "hey" to us too!

EATING!
She is such a great eater!  She is still nursing from me (probably 4 ounces every feeding?!) then eating pureed solids afterward.  After the morning feeding we do oatmeal mixed with breast milk and then 1 cube of a fruit.  Then following the afternoon feeding she eats 3 cubes of veggies/fruits. She tried bananas, avocado, carrots and blueberries for the first time this month and loved all of them except the avocados, I normally have to mix them with something but then she eats no problem.  She still is loving her apples, green beans, pears, sweet potatoes, and peas too!  Still going 4 hours between every feeding too (8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, and then we fudge a little and do 7 pm so she can go to bed earlier)

PLAYTIME!
She loves to play peek-a-boo and gets the biggest smile on her face anticipating seeing us again.  The newest game we play is hide-and-seek when she's in her walker.  We'll hide around a corner, call her name and she'll come find us.  Once she rounds the corner and sees us, she giggles so loud.  ADORABLE.  She loves the walker and follows the animals around while she's in it.

She also has mastered her excersaucer and jenny jump up this month.  She bounces like crazy in both and has the time of her life in them, haha. 

We are still working on getting her comfortable on her tummy so no crawling yet.  Although, we have seen a huge improvement from last month as now she'll keeping rolling to her tummy if she really wants to reach a toy.  She brings her knees up under her but keeps her head straight on the ground, haha.


I think she's the only baby who we don't have to pin down to change her diaper because she's happy as a clam on her back!  She loves to pull herself up to sit and standing by grabbing our hands.  Her legs are strong, just have to work on those arm muscles!



SLEEPING!
Her naps are so consistent now, normally an hour and a half in the morning and 2 or 2 and a half hours in the afternoon.  She started really fighting her third nap this month so we dropped it and now she goes to bed at 7 every night.  It is amazing to have some time at night to get things done or just watch a tv show with Kyle before we go to bed!  She normally sleeps 7 pm to 4:30 or 5 am, nurses, then goes right back down until 7:30 or 8 am.

RANDOMS!
- She has turned into the best traveler!  She's learned she can see me if she turns her head up like this, and I seriously can't get enough of that smile...

- She absolutely LOVES her pacis, and can always find them even if they are camoflauged in a pile of her toys.  If she ever finds two pacis she has no clue what to do, and will trade off putting each one in her mouth OR will try to fit both in her mouth like this:

- She still loves bath time and splashing around while playing with her rubber ducky.  I think pretty soon we're going to need to buy some more bath toys!  When she gets excited she always opens her mouth as wide as it can go!

- I read in one of my weekly baby emails that their eye color is pretty much set now.  So what's Em's eye color? No clue!  A mix of green with some brown, yellow and blue specs!  I think I'm going with green or hazel though!

- Still no teeth, and as long as I'm nursing I am not complaining!  She does LOVE to chew on Sophie, the giraffe, and suck on teethers that I've put in the freezer. 

And lastly, here are my iphone pics for the month!